The Epilogue of the Tempest by William Shakespeare is an excellent -- if not the best -- example of Shakespeare's brilliance. In 20 lines
Shakespeare is able to write an excellent ending to his play, while speaking through his characters about Shakespeare's own life and career. Even more amazingly, he seemlessly ties the two together.
In the context of the story Prospero's monologue makes perfect sense. He has lost his magical power, so his "charms are o'erthrown, and what strength [Prospero] have's [his] own, which is most faint." He is now
"confined" on the Island, for his other choice would be to go to Naples and reclaim his dukedom, but he doesn't want to do that because he has already
"pardoned the deceiver" who took his position many years ago. Prospero then says something a little strange, but it makes sense in the context of the story, he ask us to "release [him] from [his] bands with the help of your good hands." In other words, clap so that the sails of the boats his friends are riding in will be safely returned and Prospero can be "relieved by prayer" of the audience.
All of what Prospero has said is very nice cute, but the most interesting part of this monologue is what Shakespeare himself is saying. "Now that my charms are all o'erthrown, and what strength I have's mine own" means, now my plays are over, and it's no longer my characters speaking.
The "Island" or stage Shakespeare is on is now "bare" and it is time for
"you" the audience to release Shakespeare and his actors from this play with the "help of [y]our good hands." Shakespeare was not only being released for the performance of the play, he was being release from his career as a playwright. But there are more reasons to clap besides the obvious reason that the play is over, Shakespeare could not allow his final play to be bad, his project "was to please." He reiterates this point by saying "and my ending is despair unless I be relieved by prayer", or the clapping of the audience and it frees "all faults" and allows Shakespeare to indulge the clapping and joy of the audience.
Finally, after we seperate the two different perspectives, we can step back and see how Shakespeare magically works them together. The first such pun is on the word "faint", in the third line.
Much like the movie classic The Breakfast Club, American Teen is a documentary film that focuses on five different stereotypes of high school students. The five stereotypes discussed in the film are “the typical popular girl, the basketball star, the good-looking guy, the band geek, and then finally, the rebel, or in this case, the arty type” (Roberts & Burstein, 2008). The adolescent I chose to analyze from the film was the band geek. The band geek in this film was Jake. “He was funny and outgoing one-on-one, however, he was very shy in certain group situations” (D-Man, 2010). He played the clarinet in the marching band and also really loved video games. He lived with
Penrod says that intellectuals are given negative names that can result in them being degraded by peers. These reality is that names such as “geek” or “nerd” often cause intellectuals to feel devalued. An online venter describes what he hears “A+ this and…got a 1600 on my SAT and got all AP classes next year woohoo. That’s all these people care about and don’t they have lives - damn nerds” (Penrod). Even though the venter shows signs of feeling angry, his tone towards the end of the
Kenneth Branagh creates his own individualistic adaptation of this classic through the use of visual imagery, characterization, and setting. Branagh cut many lines and speeches from the text to better support his interpretation of a more open and informal society of warm-hearted, affectionate characters. Though Shakespeare's mood is more formal, Branagh remains true to the essence of the play as all of the same characters and most of the dialogue are justly included in the film. Although distinct differences can be made between Branagh’s film and Shakespeare’s written work, they both share a common denominator of good old-fashioned entertainment; and in the world of theater, nothing else really matters.
A lot of people think of nerds and think of people who wear glasses, don’t have many friends, aren’t good with social situations, don’t get in trouble, always getting good grades, and playing weird card and video games. It would be hard to classify everyone in the band as being a nerd though because like every other group it is a very diverse group of people to be a part of. There are people from different nationalities bringing the things that they like to do to the group and introducing new things to people. There are also your typical groups in band such as the drummers usually being the more athletic type, the guard girls being your more girly type, and so on. There are actually fewer nerds in band than you would
Close your eyes and try to visualize a black nerd. The person you’ve probably come up with most likely resembles Steve Urkel or Bill Cosby. But a better, more relevant answer would be someone like Kanye West or Rosario Dawson. Before, being a black nerd was something to be ashamed of because it was associated with being an outsider of the black community and acting white. However in recent years, the subculture has undergone a rebranding and being a black nerd has flowed into the mainstream through artists like Childish Gambino, Richard Ayoade, and Kanye West. This new generation of black nerds call themselves blerds. There is some controversy surrounding the word blerd because of its embrace of blackness and some people believe it is exclusionary.
Fridman explains that anti- intellectualism in pop culture is higher in america than in almost any other country. Whereas in countries in Eastern Asia, education and the pursuit of intelligence is respected and admired. Throughout the world jobs such as professors are looked at as “the most… rewarding positions”, but in America, it is the Michael Phelps and Aaron Rodgers, that are in prestigious positions. This is a major side effect of anti- intellectualism, because America cannot compete with the rest of the world academically. Fridmans questions how a country, like the U.S., can compete in a race for technology or remain a “political and cultural force” when it puts it emphasize on social and physical abilities, and not academic success. Fridman argues that in order for America to maintain its status as a world power, it needs to aim focus against anti-
In a society that likes to put people into categories based on certain defining characteristics, Leonid Fridman highlights how “nerds” and “geeks” receive unfair treatment for being smart. In his argument, Fridman goes to highlight how our culture, especially in the United States, looks down upon people who are “intellectually curious and academically serious.” Leonid Fridman is able to construct a compelling argument by illustrating how children are dissuaded from being smart and hardworking at an early age, depicting intellectuals as the damsel in distress, and by illuminating the ostracization of intellectuals in the U.S. specifically.
The meaning of the word nerd has made big changes since being first used in the late 1900’s. Like education scholar, Tracy L. Cross, I agree that nerds “were generally considered as socially inadequate, shy or overbearing, smart…Nerds were also perceived as being very focused on academic endeavors, physically
The nerd trope is ubiquitous to American media and culture. Usually, it’s an academically ambitious kid who has beyond thick glasses, tucked pants, and acne: a target. Leonid Fridman takes on this stereotype in “America Needs Its Nerds.” Fridman condemns America’s neglect and contempt for intellect. He argues that America’s perspective is self-destructive through the use of definition, example, and patriotism.
Shakespeare’s longest play has a lengthy production history. Through waves of different Hamlet productions, John Caird’s 2000 production of Hamlet stands out especially because of its lead actor. This National Theatre show, staged at the Littleton Theatre, featured Simon Russell Beale as the titular character. In The Guardian, Lyn Gardner writes that Russell Beale had wanted to be in a production of Hamlet for twenty years and when he got his chance, he didn’t “blow it.” John Caird’s elaborate three and a half hour production gave a great big nod to the religious aspect of the play, especially with its use of the set. Though Russell Beale’s performance was universally acclaimed, the effectiveness of playing Hamlet as a gentle soul and the consequences of this choice were debated.
Cohen, Walter, J.E. Howard, K. Eisaman Maus. The Norton Shakespeare. Vol. 2 Stephen Greenblatt, General Editor. New York, London. 2008. ISBN 978-0-393-92991-1
We are too busy trying to put names to faces in a production than to put motives to characters or take the time to dissect Shakespeare’s language. Plays are so fast paced and in many productions of Shakespeare, entire passages are left out in order to speed the story along and keep the show time to under a couple hours. This does not give us the experience demanded of a Shakespeare play. When we take the time to sit down and read Shakespeare’s work, we get to know the characters on a more personal level.
Schama, Simon. “The Shakespeare Shakdown”. Newsweek 24 Oct. 2011: 24. Student Edition: Web.1 Nov. 2013.
This is how Shakespeare’s plays are a product of the Elizabethan theatrical context in which they were first performed.
Geek- a performer that bites off a live chicken head for entertainment. Nowadays that is what the “American” culture refers its intellectuals as . Leonid Fridman the author of “America Needs Its Nerds” explains why our culture should stop casting out the academically great people in our society using different methods to demonstrating the effect of our influences have caused these intellectuals to struggle in more social situations. Fridman argues that they should be able to think freely and not worry about their image in society by using situations that people would not expect would happen. Fridman also establishes rare it is for a country to idolize anti-intellectualism as much as the “american” culture